Summer Bridge gives head start to UIS freshmen

Tuesday

Successful college learning sometimes requires a jump-start unencumbered by the distractions of making new friends, learning the campus and adjusting to life away from home.

The Summer Bridge program at the University of Illinois Springfield is designed just for that — to help students prepare academically and socially for the transition into college.

The program, now in its third year, doubled in size to include 53 incoming freshmen from two separate “living-learning communities” that include a large number of students who are the first generation of their families to attend college.

“We want to make sure they know the demands of college-level courses and can meet those demands when school starts,” said Tarah Sweeting-Trotter, a UIS academic adviser and coordinator of the two-week Summer Bridge program.

She said the program began by serving only Students Transitioning for Academic Retention and Success (STARS), and focused more on academic support. Added this summer were the first-generation college students participating in Necessary Steps, which had focused more on the social transition.

UIS has tracked the differences in retention and academic performance among students with similar academic profiles who were in the initial group of STARS students and the second group, which was the first class to take part in the Summer Bridge program.

Those in Summer Bridge showed a 28 percent increase in student retention the first year from fall to spring and a 12 percent increase in retention in the first year from fall semester to fall semester.

There also was a 27 percent increase in first semester grade-point average.

“They are invited to attend Summer Bridge, but it isn’t required,” Sweeting-Trotter said. The program, which is free to the scholars involved, ended Tuesday. Move-in day on campus for fall semester is today.

‘Bunch of help’

Shelby Green, a participant who graduated from Perspectives Charter Schools in Chicago, and Austin Krohe of Moweaqua, a graduate of Central A&M High School, both learned of the Summer Bridge program through emails from UIS.

“I told them I wanted to do it,” Green said. “My mother and father didn’t graduate from college, and I wanted to make sure I was the first out of my family to do that. I want to provide for my family and give back to the community.”

Krohe also is a first-generation college student.

“They told me all the stuff that’s in the program, and I thought it would help me out, so why not?” he said. “It’s been very beneficial. I’ve been here a week, and I know my way around campus, have a big group of friends and know the residence hall. It’s been a bunch of help.”

The Summer Bridge program includes intense supplemental instruction, especially in math and reading, taught by UIS faculty.

But the students also attend workshops on such topics as financial literacy, the health service, volunteerism, financial aid and more. There are more fun things like games, movies and other group activities, too.

On the first day, there are workshops and programs for parents on various aspects of campus life.

“The focus is on skills-building,” said Sweeting-Trotter. “Things like critical reading, note-taking, library research methods. They learn to utilize campus support services — what’s here and how to use it.”

Establishing ties

Another part of Summer Bridge is social acclimation, she said.

“We want them to build lasting ties and relationships on campus so they’ll feel at home and stay here,” she said. Establishing ties to the Springfield community also is encouraged, and to that end, bridge program students participate in a service project and visit sites such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

“A lot of them are first-generation college students,” Sweeting-Trotter said. “Many of them self-identified as needing additional support, that they are in some way under-prepared for college.”

UIS also reaches out to potential Summer Bridge students who have committed to attend UIS through high school guidance counselors.

If a student feels not quite ready to leave home for a four-year college, why not simply recommend a community college?

“We feel the total education experience on a residential liberal arts campus is a more comprehensive, holistic transformative experience,” Sweeting-Trotter said.

The encouragement doesn’t end with the conclusion of the Summer Bridge program. “We want to draw a connection between what they’re learning inside and outside the classroom,” she said. “There is intense one-on-one support throughout the year. Then they can become peer mentors for incoming freshmen next year.”

There are eight peer mentors that help the students through either STARS or Necessary Steps. Sweeting-Trotter, assistant coordinator Carlleen Bell and various UIS faculty provide the curriculum for the program.

“Both of those programs have grown in the past four years and have shown a significant increase in retention for these students,” Sweeting-Trotter said. “The administration is supportive of expanding them. They’ve demonstrated a strong commitment to retention and support services.”

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UIS retention rates

University of Illinois Springfield retention rates for first-time, full-time freshmen students from fall semester to fall semester:

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